Edge Moor Power Plant

On April 21, 2010, Pepco Holdings, Inc. (PHI) sold the generation assets owned by Conectiv Energy to Calpine Corporation. Based in Houston, Texas, Calpine Corporation is a leading electric generation company. Sold for $1.7 billion, the sale consisted of the Conectiv Energy power generation assets for $1.65 billion plus the value of the fuel inventory at closing, which was roughly $50 million. The sale closed June 30, 2010.

On July 1, 2010, Edge Moor and Pepco Holdings' Deepwater Generating Station began burning natural gas exclusively. All coal power will be discontinued.

Edge Moor Power - Hay Road Power Complex near Wilmington, Delaware consists of four Edge Moor units totaling 720 megawatts (MW) powered by coal, natural gas and #6 fuel oil and eight Hay Road combustion turbine units totaling 1,082 MW powered by natural gas and low sulfur diesel.

Edge Moor Energy Center The first two units at Edge Moor Power Plant were completed in 1951, and have since been retired. Currently in operation are units 3, 4, 5 and 10. Unit 3 began commercial operation in 1954; Unit 10 in 1963; Unit 4 in 1966; and Unit 5 in 1973.

This plant was one of the first built with a fully centralized control system, which creates better operating efficiency and safety. When Calpine acquired the 725 MW facility in 2010 as part of its purchase of the Conectiv Energy assets, the company made the decision to discontinue burning coal at the site. Calpine’s decision to run Edge Moor primarily using natural gas is in keeping with its corporate philosophy to produce power in an environmentally sensitive fashion.

Currently, the plant uses state-of-the-art technologies, installed in early 2009, to control emissions. Unit 10 is a combustion turbine unit which uses low-sulfur diesel and is Black Start capable, meaning that in an emergency if the whole grid system goes down (causing a blackout), the self-sufficient unit can be used to bring the system back online. The unit can be started without needing a feed from a larger unit and, in turn, can feed the power needed by larger units to restart after a blackout.

Location: Wilmington, DE

Commercial Operation Date: January 1965

Calpine Net Interest Baseload (MW): 0 megawatts

Calpine Net Interest With Peaking (MW): 725 megawatts

Ownership: Calpine 100%

Technology: Natural gas-fired/oil, simple-cycle

Turbines: Two General Electric ST, one Westinghouse ST, one TP&M FT-4A-5

NERC Region: RFC

Hay Road Energy Center Calpine acquired the 1,130 MW Hay Road facility in 2010 as part of its purchase of the Conectiv Energy assets. Units at the complex use an advanced dry combustion process to limit the formation of pollutants, thus preserving valuable water resources.

Location: Wilmington, DE

Commercial Operation Date: January 1989

Calpine Net Interest Baseload (MW): 1030 megawatts

Calpine Net Interest With Peaking (MW): 1130 megawatts

Ownership: Calpine 100%

Technology: Natural gas-fired/oil, combined-cycle

Turbines: Six Siemens V84.2, one ABB ST, one Alstrom ST

NERC Region: RFC

Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from Edge Moor Power Plant
In 2010, Abt Associates issued a study commissioned by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization, quantifying the deaths and other health effects attributable to fine particle pollution from coal-fired power plants. The study found that over 13,000 deaths and tens of thousands of cases of chronic bronchitis, acute bronchitis, asthma-related episodes and asthma-related emergency room visits, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, dysrhythmia, ischemic heart disease, chronic lung disease, peneumonia each year are attributable to fine particle pollution from U.S. coal-fired power plants. Fine particle pollution is formed from a combination of soot, acid droplets, and heavy metals formed from sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and soot. Among those particles, the most dangerous are the smallest (smaller than 2.5 microns), which are so tiny that they can evade the lung's natural defenses, enter the bloodstream, and be transported to vital organs. Impacts are especially severe among the elderly, children, and those with respiratory disease. Low-income and minority populations are disproportionately impacted as well, due to the tendency of companies to avoid locating power plants upwind of affluent communities.

The table below estimates the death and illness attributable to the Edge Moor Power Plant. Abt assigned a value of $7,300,000 to each 2010 mortality, based on a range of government and private studies. Valuations of illnesses ranged from $52 for an asthma episode to $440,000 for a case of chronic bronchitis.

Table 1: Death and disease attributable to fine particle pollution from the Edge Moor Power Plant
Source: "Find Your Risk from Power Plant Pollution," Clean Air Task Force interactive table, accessed February 2011

Plant Data

 * Owner: Calpine
 * Parent Company: Calpine
 * Plant Nameplate Capacity: 252 MW (Megawatts)
 * Units and In-Service Dates: 75 MW (1954), 177 MW (1966)
 * Location: 200 Hay Rd., Wilmington, DE 19809
 * GPS Coordinates: 39.738611, -75.504167
 * Coal Consumption:
 * Coal Source:
 * Number of Employees:

Emissions Data

 * 2006 CO2 Emissions: 1,964,871 tons
 * 2006 SO2 Emissions:
 * 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
 * 2006 NOx Emissions:
 * 2005 Mercury Emissions:

Source: http://camddataandmaps.epa.gov/gdm/index.cfm?fuseaction=emissions.wizard

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * Delaware and coal
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 * Global warming